{"id":13588,"date":"2026-03-16T08:56:40","date_gmt":"2026-03-16T08:56:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/?p=13588"},"modified":"2026-03-16T08:56:42","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T08:56:42","slug":"on-the-new-formula-1-regulations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/2026\/03\/16\/on-the-new-formula-1-regulations\/","title":{"rendered":"\ud83c\udfce\ufe0f On the new Formula 1 regulations"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Having watched this weekend\u2019s Chinese Grand Prix, I have to say that I am loving this version of Formula 1. There is a narrative that the racing is \u2018fake\u2019 due to the 50\/50 internal combustion engine\/battery split and the existence of an electricity boost button. But I will take watching all of the close following, overtakes and racecraft over the \u2018you can\u2019t do anything once you\u2019re in the dirty air\u2019 problems that we\u2019ve had for the past couple of decades any day of the week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

I started watching F1 in the early 1990s and I think it has suffered a lot since aerodynamics became king. This set of regulations seems to have properly addressed it, at least for now. When I started watching, we had passing and re-passing, which gradually eroded over time. That seems to be back. The battles were amazing, with so many close moments where things could have gone pear-shaped. The fact that they didn\u2019t was because of the skills shown by the drivers. It was thrilling. Fernando Alonso lost the 2010 World Championship as his Ferrari was stuck behind the much slower Lotus of Vitaly Petrov for most of the race. It was sad to watch. I don\u2019t think we would see that happen with these cars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

There are proper technical puzzles for the teams to work on, highlighting how much it isn\u2019t just about the drivers. Teams are struggling for reliability \u2014 three cars didn\u2019t even start the race, and other cars broke down during it \u2014 and the cars that are running reliably need to look for improvements. Ferrari are giving Mercedes a close battle at starts and restarts of each race, but they eat through their tyres much more quickly. It\u2019s going to be fun to see how they improve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m enjoying Formula 1 more than I have for years. Long may it continue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Having watched this weekend\u2019s Chinese Grand Prix, I have to say that I am loving this version of Formula 1. There is a narrative that the racing is \u2018fake\u2019 due to the 50\/50 internal combustion engine\/battery split and the existence of an electricity boost button. But I will take watching all of the close following, […]<\/div>\n<\/a>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"webmentions_disabled_pings":false,"webmentions_disabled":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"activitypub_content_warning":"","activitypub_content_visibility":"","activitypub_max_image_attachments":3,"activitypub_interaction_policy_quote":"anyone","activitypub_status":"federated","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-13588","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-sport","7":"h-entry","9":"hentry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7042,"url":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/2021\/03\/13\/7042\/","url_meta":{"origin":13588,"position":0},"title":"So, so sad to hear\u2026","author":"Andrew Doran","date":"13 March 2021","format":"status","excerpt":"So, so sad to hear that Murray Walker has passed away. He was my introduction to watching Formula 1 back in the early 1990s. His autobiography is well worth a read \u2014 he was an incredible motorsport enthusiast, and his first love was with two wheels instead of four. What\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Snippets"","block_context":{"text":"Snippets","link":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/category\/snippets\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9479,"url":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/2022\/10\/02\/9479\/","url_meta":{"origin":13588,"position":1},"title":"\ud83d\udeb4\u200d\u2642\ufe0f Shocked to hear about\u2026","author":"Andrew Doran","date":"2 October 2022","format":"status","excerpt":"\ud83d\udeb4\u200d\u2642\ufe0f Shocked to hear about Christina Mackenzie\u2019s hit-and-run accident that has left her with a broken pelvis. I\u2019ve had some very close passes in the past and try to \u2018take the lane\u2019 in anticipation; having a vehicle sneak by you is terrifying. Katie Kookaburra talks about near misses in her\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Snippets"","block_context":{"text":"Snippets","link":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/category\/snippets\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10641,"url":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/2024\/01\/01\/weeknotes-253-feliz-covidad\/","url_meta":{"origin":13588,"position":2},"title":"Weeknotes #253 \u2014 Feliz COVIDad","author":"Andrew Doran","date":"1 January 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"COVID-19 grabbed hold of me and took me down on Christmas Day. I spent most of the first half of the week lying on the sofa, as getting up led immediately to watery eyes and sneezing fits. It\u2019s such a strange illness; highly contagious \u2014 every time I\u2019ve had it,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Weeknotes"","block_context":{"text":"Weeknotes","link":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/category\/weeknotes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/0B64CBFE-51C5-4428-BAFF-B855FBEA312E-scaled.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/0B64CBFE-51C5-4428-BAFF-B855FBEA312E-scaled.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/0B64CBFE-51C5-4428-BAFF-B855FBEA312E-scaled.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/0B64CBFE-51C5-4428-BAFF-B855FBEA312E-scaled.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/0B64CBFE-51C5-4428-BAFF-B855FBEA312E-scaled.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/0B64CBFE-51C5-4428-BAFF-B855FBEA312E-scaled.jpeg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3905,"url":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/2018\/01\/20\/jenson-button-life-to-the-limit\/","url_meta":{"origin":13588,"position":3},"title":"Jenson Button \u2014 Life To The Limit","author":"Andrew Doran","date":"20 January 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Finished reading Jenson Button\u2019s autobiography this week. It\u2019s very well-written, honest, and he has a great \u2018voice\u2019. I remember watching his first season in F1 with Williams where he seemed to come from nowhere and now here we are, all of a sudden at the other end of his career.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Books"","block_context":{"text":"Books","link":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/category\/books\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/173679177.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/173679177.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/173679177.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/173679177.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6537,"url":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/2020\/11\/23\/6537\/","url_meta":{"origin":13588,"position":4},"title":"\ud83c\udfb6 George Harrison\u2019s All Things\u2026","author":"Andrew Doran","date":"23 November 2020","format":"status","excerpt":"\ud83c\udfb6 George Harrison\u2019s All Things Must Pass is unbelievably 50 years old this month. Living In The Material World is my favourite Harrison album but only just, with ATMP a very close second. The BBC have released a superb Archive on 4 episode where Nitin Sawhney explores the album.","rel":"","context":"In "Snippets"","block_context":{"text":"Snippets","link":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/category\/snippets\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12265,"url":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/2025\/07\/08\/weeknotes-332-double-barbecue\/","url_meta":{"origin":13588,"position":5},"title":"Weeknotes #332 \u2014 Double barbecue","author":"Andrew Doran","date":"8 July 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"At the Year 11 prom, parents poised and ready for the kids to make their exotic vehicle-assisted entrances. It was so hot. Monday and Tuesday hit inferno-like temperatures. At night we ditched the duvet, but I couldn\u2019t face even being under a sheet. So I just lay there on top\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Weeknotes"","block_context":{"text":"Weeknotes","link":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/category\/weeknotes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"A panorama of parents lined up at the entrance of a school, with a red carpet waiting to receive children arriving in exotic vehicles at their Year 11 prom.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/DraggedImage-7-scaled.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/DraggedImage-7-scaled.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/DraggedImage-7-scaled.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/DraggedImage-7-scaled.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/DraggedImage-7-scaled.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/DraggedImage-7-scaled.jpeg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13588","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13588"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13588\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13589,"href":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13588\/revisions\/13589"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13588"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13588"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andrewdoran.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13588"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}